Ep. 55 – An Intimate Look at the Heart Sutra with Susan Piver

Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck with David Nichtern

Meditation teacher, Susan Piver, joins David Nichtern to share her profound and ever-evolving connection to The Heart Sutra.

Learn about the heart and mind of practice with David Nichtern and Krishna Das in an upcoming free online talk! Register HERE.

In this episode, David Nichtern and Susan Piver explore:

• The many variations of The Heart Sutra and why it deeply inspires Susan
• Focusing on the sound of the words in The Heart Sutra, not just the meaning of the words
• Considering how a sutra can transform an environment and how an environment can transform a sutra
• The inseparability of meaning, sound, and atmosphere within the Heart Sutra
• A reading of The Heart Sutra from Susan Piver
• Tying our daily lives back to some form of study or practice
• Emptiness as the main theme of The Heart Sutra, and of the Buddhist arena in general
• Why Buddhist emptiness is not nihilism but an expansive, liberating insight
• The transformative value of being around someone wise with skillful means

About Susan Piver:

Susan Piver has an international reputation as an exceptionally skillful meditation teacher. She teaches workshops and speaks on mindfulness, innovation, communication, relationships, and creativity. Susan has been a student of Buddhism since 1995, graduated from a Buddhist seminary in 2004, and was authorized to teach meditation in 2005. In 2012, she founded The Open Heart Project, the world’s largest online-only meditation center. Susan is also a New York Times bestselling author. Her most recent book, Inexplicable Joy: On the Heart Sutra, is now available. You can keep up with Susan on Instagram or on her website.

Join Susan for a 10-day Heart Sutra meditation retreat this August, 2025

“Emptiness sounds like everything’s dead, but empty doesn’t mean that. It means empty of separate existence. You are here due to causes and conditions. You did not get here in a space capsule. So, emptiness could be expressed more accurately as the great expanse, fullness, complete fullness.” – Susan Piver

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